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U18s come unstuck

Our Under-18s impressed in the second half but lost their Premier Academy League opener 2-0 against Everton on Saturday.

Our Under-18s impressed in the second half but lost their Premier Academy League opener 2-0 against Everton on Saturday.

The Toffees had the better of the first half at Spurs Lodge and Jonathan Miles made a number of fine saves in the first 15 minutes to keep them at bay.

He twice thwarted Chris Long, the second from point-blank range and then turned away Anton Forrester's effort from close range.

However, there was little Miles could do about Everton's opener after 22 minutes as Long hit an unstoppable shot from 25 yards that curled away from the goalkeeper into the top corner.

The lads showed signs of coming to terms with the game in the latter stages of the first half as Lee Angol's shot was blocked in front of goal and William Ekong fired just wide.

They then dominated the first 35 minutes of the second half but couldn't find the equaliser.

Angol dispossessed Everton keeper James Fitzgibbon in the penalty area but the ball wouldn't fall for him to slot home. By the time he managed to fire at goal, Ben Henegan got back to make a goal-saving block.

Fitzgibbon did well to field Roman Percil's 20 yarder with Victor Zapata-Caicedo and Shaq Coulthirst waiting for a tap-in if he spilled it.

Ollie Modeste's cross from the right created havoc but Everton defended well, blocking shots from Percil and Zapata-Caicedo. That was after 76 minutes and three minutes later, Coulthirst took off to meet another Modeste cross only to see his glancing header zip just wide.

Miles made another fine save to deny Danny O'Brien with seven minutes left but the same player clinched the points for Everton a minute later when the ball broke kindly for him in the box and he slotted home.

Freddy Champion had one final half-chance from another fine Modeste cross but it wasn't to be for the lads on this occasion.